I'm currently studying intently (for about the third time in my life) the "mysterious" and "enigmatic" Book of Revelation. I'm in chapter 7 that speaks to the judgements of the Seven Seals. I'm using as one of my guides a series of sermons/studies by pastor Sam Storms who has a blog online. He made the following exceedingly profound and paradoxical observation with respect to God's infinite love for his people and his holy and simultaneous hatred for all that is evil and, therefore, worthy of his wrath. And now I quote:
The fact that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will witness a simultaneous outpouring of both divine wrath and saving mercy strikes many as inconceivable. But it isn’t mercy to which people voice their objections. It is the notion that God is angry with enemies of the gospel and will hold them eternally accountable for their rejection of Jesus Christ. The Revelation given to John, however, cannot be ignored. There is a “great day” (Rev. 6:17) when the “wrath of the Lamb” (Rev. 6:16) will be seen and felt, and I would be in utter dereliction of my duty as a teacher of God’s Word if I conveniently skipped over this vitally important truth just so that some among you might feel better.
I strongly suspect that opposition to the concept of divine wrath is likely due to a misunderstanding of what it is. Wrath is not the loss of self-control or the irrational and capricious outburst of anger. Divine wrath is not to be thought of as a celestial bad temper or God lashing out at those who “rub him the wrong way.”
Divine wrath, as it is described in our passage today, is righteous antagonism toward all that is unholy. It is the revulsion of God's character to that which is a violation of God's will.
And I say this without the slightest hint of contradiction, that there is a very real sense in which divine wrath is a function of divine love. God's wrath is his love for holiness and truth and justice. It is because God passionately loves purity and peace and perfection that he reacts angrily toward anything and anyone who defiles them. J. I. Packer explains:
"Would a God who took as much pleasure in evil as He did in good be a good God? Would a God who did not react adversely to evil in His world be morally perfect? Surely not. But it is precisely this adverse reaction to evil, which is a necessary part of moral perfection, that the Bible has in view when it speaks of God's wrath" (Knowing God, 136-37). (emphasis mine)
And then the bottom line:
And we must never forget that if we don’t believe that humans deserve to have God visit upon them the painful consequences of their sin, we empty God’s forgiveness of all meaning. If there is no punishment that sin warrants, then God should overlook our transgressions. Forgiveness is real and precious and glorious only because our sin has betrayed us into a situation in which justice demands that God inflict upon us the most serious and eternal consequences. But he has instead visited that judgment on his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. That is the glory of saving grace, that the infinitely holy God who should take action against us, instead has taken action for us.
https://www.samstorms.org/all-articl...aded-nightmare
Obviously, from what has been said above, God's sacrificial love for his elect not only doesn't contradict his eternal wrath against all unrepentant sinners, but His holy love and righteous indignation actually complement each another.
